Rogue's First Day
by Anna Lane
Summary: Small piece on how I thought one version of Rogue's first day could go. No one really trusts her. The school for 'Gifted Children' seems too good to be true. And not all of the teachers are exactly what Rogue would call conventional. Not to mention the strange love rectangle between Logan, Scott, Remy and Jean.
1. First Day

**A/N: Completely undeveloped piece of writing by moi. Recently, I've had to deal with a lot of death and for some reason it made me kinda sad to think that I might die and no one would ever read this little snippet. So, even though I have no idea where this is going or even if it _is_ going, I'd like to post this little chapter on how I think Rogue's first day at the institute could go.**

"And the kitchen's to your left." Kitty said, her arm waving as she gestured to the closed door. "It's soup today," she said with a little smile.

"I hate soup," Rogue said, deciding to share that little part of herself to this almost-stranger. Sharing any part of herself felt wrong, like she was giving away food when she was starving. But it was her first day, and she was desperate for it to go well.

"Really? Why?" Kitty asked, polite curiosity in her tone.

_Great, _Rogue thought before she answered, _I said something she not only doesn't care about, but probably disagrees with. Great start. _"It's so boring. Like flavored water with strands of mushy grain."

Kitty laughed and shrugged it off. "You'll like it when Remy makes it. He doesn't do it too often, but he is tonight."

They started walking off to their next stop on the tour—the commons—when Kitty suddenly burst out. "Ooh! That reminds me, you've gotta find the right kinds of friends—it's imperative." Rogue wasn't sure what Kitty meant with this new piece of advice until she elaborated. "For instance, telepaths: very helpful as they often hear the errant thought. It's how I learned Remy was cooking tonight. My friend Jean told me."

Rogue nodded like she actually thought powers were an important consideration when finding friends. "What can you do?" She asked, figuring Kitty would probably enjoy talking about herself.

Kitty's grin went from ear to ear. Her hands came up to clap together with Rogue's head in the middle. Rogue flinched back, too late, and was surprised when she didn't feel anything. "I can phase through anything." Kitty explained, shoving her hand through a wall and meeting no resistance.

"Wow." Rogue said quietly.

"I know," Kitty said smugly. "What can you do?"

Rogue took a deep breath. "I better skip the show part and get straight to the tell. When I touch people, I drain their memories and energy." Rogue said it quickly, not relishing sharing, but knowing that full disclosure was only for the best; people had to learn to be just as careful of her as she was of them. Still, the uneasy look on Kitty's face didn't sit well with her stomach.

"Does it hurt?" Kitty finally asked, her eyes trying to hide the slight fear that had crept into them.

"Very much." Rogue said. She didn't know if Kitty meant did it hurt her or the people she touched, but it didn't matter as the answer was the same for both. People always forgot that Rogue didn't get to pick and choose; she got everything, including the pain.

"Umm well, yeah," Kitty started, trying to change the topic. "You should come a little early to dinner tonight. The food can go fast when Remy's the cook."

Rogue nodded, and didn't say much the rest of the tour.

On her way to dinner, Rogue reflected on her first day. The classes had been a little confusing, but nothing she knew she couldn't catch up on. The people hadn't gone out of their way to be mean to her…or nice, really. They kind of just ignored her. Which was good, sort of. Rogue had a lot to deal with in her own head; she didn't really need much more. In a way she wouldn't have minded though, if one of the strangers she'd met today had made a special point to sit next to her and ask her how she was liking it here at the Xavier Institute so far. She couldn't really blame anyone for not doing that. Rogue was sure her reputation preceded her, and they were probably a little scared of her. Hell, sometimes even _she _was scared of herself.

Rogue got to the kitchen early, and was surprised to see it was almost filled. She was glad there was one more chair, and relieved when it was next to Kitty. She sat down gingerly, half afraid someone would tell her she couldn't sit there. No one did. "Where do all the other kids sit?" Rogue asked, noting that the table only held fifteen or so people, and that there were only two more open spots. There had to be Two hundred kids at the school.

"Oh," Kitty laughed, "They're all assigned different kitchens. It's a pretty big school. No need to squish together." She saw the look on Rogue's face. "I wouldn't worry about it. You belong here. Although, I must warn you, there are about five more people than this table can seat assigned to this kitchen, and they usually either just stand and eat or go somewhere else when they don't get a spot."

Just then an intimidating man with large muscles walked in with a dark expression. "And then you get the occasional one who wouldn't sit with us if the table were half-empty," Kitty said with a laugh.

"Where's that Cajun with the food? I'm starving." The man said, and his voice was deep, pleasing, if a little crass.

"He doesn't look like a student." Rogue said, not quite making it a question.

"Oh, he's not. That's Logan, the gym teacher." Kitty told her.

"I had gym today, and I didn't see him, just that guy." Rogue gestured across the table to the guy with the sun glasses. She'd seen him shoot laser beams without them outside today. "He taught us."

"Logan only shows up enough to make sure _we _are all showing up enough, and the rest of the time Scott—that's the guy with the glasses—or someone else just sort of steps forward and fills in for the class." Kitty whispered to her.  
"Oh, I never would have guessed." Rogue said, and it was true, Scott seemed like the natural teacher of the bunch.

"I know," Kitty said, and Rogue didn't miss the almost dreamy quality of voice Kitty took on while looking at Scott. Kitty blushed a little when she saw Rogue watching her, but didn't say anything further.

Just then a pretty redhead came in through another door, holding two serving bowls. She set the one filled with gravy down first, then the one with biscuits. A man entered behind her and set a huge pot down in the middle of the table. "Thank you, chère." The man said, kissing the redhead lightly on the lips. "Bon appetite, everyone." His accent was slightly French, and Rogue knew it must be the Cajun everyone was talking about, Remy.

Kitty must have seen the surprise on Rogue's face, because she leaned in, smiling, to whisper into Rogue's ear. "They don't exactly match do they?" Kitty said, giggling. "But they're a couple. No one really gets it. He can come off as such a perv, and she's, like, the sweetest. But I think it's kinda cute. The good girl and the bad boy." She leaned forward to get herself a biscuit, grabbing one for Rogue in the process. Rogue thanked her, and regarded the so-called mismatched couple. It was true, they didn't look like they would be together. He was a little disheveled and she was too perfect, but in a way it worked together. She saw what Kitty meant.

"'Bout time." Rogue heard Logan rumble. It made her smile, because it was actually still a few minutes before dinner was scheduled to start.

Rogue couldn't believe it when she found the pot was already half-gone as she started to scoop it into her bowl. She took more than she would have normally, in case it really was as good as everyone was making it seem. It did smell heavenly.

She took her first bite and guts gurgled happily. _Bliss._

"Told you his soup was good." Kitty said, nudging Rogue with her elbow when she saw the stunned expression on her face.

Rogue heard Remy groan from across the table. "Petite, Petite, it's _Gumbo, _not soup!"

Kitty laughed. "Big diff!"

"You wound me wit' your awful words, girl! Remy don' know how you gonna make it up to him." He winked in Kitty's direction, and she giggled.

No one really saw Jean's slight wince, except maybe Scott and Logan. And Rogue, of course. Rogue was always watching people, observing from afar, because she felt like she could never be a part of them. But she _wanted _to be a part of them this time. The people here seemed really nice and fun…and almost like a family. What Rogue wouldn't give to join them and just be happy.

She finished her bowl (it was no hardship) and had just barely managed to scrape out seconds from the bottom of the pot when all of a sudden she noticed half the people at the table were leaving. There'd barely been any warning. It was like a group of them just decided to collectively splinter off. "Where are they all going?" Rogue asked Kitty.

She just shrugged. "I don't know. Probably just all decided to go watch a movie or something in one of the rec rooms."

_All together?_ Rogue wondered. She was no genius, but she'd only been here one day and noticed that there was some sort of love triangle (rectangle?) going on between Jean, Scott, Logan, and Remy. It seemed weird they would choose their free time to hang out all together, but Rogue decided not to say anything more.

"When you finish, I can take you to your room." Kitty said helpfully.

Rogue finished and got up to leave. Kitty walked side-by-side with her until they got to the staircase. The ones leading to the bedrooms were a little narrow, and two people couldn't walk comfortably next to each other. Kitty just stood there, hesitating at the foot of the stairs. Rogue looked at her, a question in her eyes. After all, Rogue didn't really know where she was going. Kitty started. "Oh, right! Sorry." She hastily went up the first few steps in front of Rogue. "I'm sorry to say that you have one of the rooms on the highest floor, and there are a _lot_ of stairs."

"That's fine." Rogue laughed. "Does it have a window?"

"A balcony." Kitty responded, and Rogue felt the first true stirrings of excitement.

Wrapped up in the thoughts that she might be getting a room all to herself for the first time in years, _and with a balcony! _Rogue accidentally went a little faster than Kitty and stepped on the back of her foot. She started to apologize when she realized that nothing had happened. Her foot had gone right through. Kitty was intangible.

Rogue fought back the hurt. She was surprised at intensity of it. Rogue knew what had happened. Kitty had been getting along just fine when they were walking together and talking, but the moment she was supposed to go in front of her Kitty had hesitated. She didn't trust Rogue at her back. Rogue probably would have done the same in her shoes, but she couldn't tramp down her indignation. She was silent the rest of the way up while Kitty chatted.

Kitty finally got to Rogue's room and turned around to face her with concerned eyes. Rogue wondered if she were touchable again, and had to fight an urge to check. "Are you okay, Rogue? You seem kind of quiet."

"Fine." Rogue said, biting her tongue. She wasn't going to bring it up.

"Well, what do you think of it here so far?" Kitty asked, trying to be friendly. Rogue wondered if Kitty was assigned to her. 'Watch the new girl. Make sure she isn't dangerous.'

Rogue thought a lot before answering. "It seems too good to be true." And it was. They weren't welcoming her with open arms and giving her a new chance. They trusted her about as much as, well, that's the kicker: Rogue had actually started to trust them already, and that was why it hurt so bad that they hadn't begun to do the same for her. It didn't matter though, they would see she wasn't the baddie they seemed to think she was.

"It kind of is too good to be true." Kitty shrugged. "If you were just any other orphan"—_runaway_, Rogue thought, but didn't correct her—"you would never have gotten this chance. Your powers got you here, and without them who knows where you'd be." Kitty had a faraway look in her eyes, and Rogue got the feeling she wasn't exactly talking about her.

"Yeah, Xavier's a great guy. Anyway, I'm probably going to go to bed pretty soon. It was a really long day." Rogue was anxious to get rid of her escort, and eager to see her new room.

"Sure," Kitty said, snapping out of it, "there's a closet just down the hall that's got sheets and towels and stuff if you need anything."

"Thanks." Rogue slipped in her room and closed the door. She sank against the door. Her first day was over.


	2. Second Day

Rogue tramped across the green grass that seemed to run rampant along the campus grounds. The day was beautiful, and Rogue would have enjoyed it immensely, had she not been wearing so many clothes. But she couldn't risk an accidental touch. It could jeopardize everything here, and for the first time she could remember, she _really_ wanted things to go well. Who knew…maybe even after she'd finished schooling here, she could come back and teach? The thought filled her with a secret excitement. Maybe one day she might even be able to help out someone like her. She'd never even considered her future before, and this first idea scared her just as much as it made her want to succeed.

It was too soon to let herself have hope for the future, though. Not even if she couldn't make it to one high school level class. She hurriedly turned left at the fountain in the direction of her next class. At least, she hoped it was this way. It was only her second time heading there, and the first time she'd followed someone else. Unfortunately, today she was late, and everyone else was probably already there, stretching or something. She didn't know why on earth they had to hold a class outside anyway, even if it was gym.

When she came upon a familiar batch of students milling about, she was relieved to find that she had navigated the school successfully. When they first saw her, her whole class, save one, turned to stare at her as she walked up. It was a little disconcerting compared to the way they'd treated her as if she were invisible yesterday. Finally, the man she'd first assumed was a student turned around, and she saw why. Furious deep blue eyes met hers. "Newbie," the gruff man named Logan grunted. "You're late."

"S-sorry," Rogue stuttered, stunned at the barely concealed anger in his voice.

"Is this your first day?" He demanded. Before Rogue could answer, he cut her off. "This isn't how we make a first impression here at the Xavier Institute. As mutants, it's imperative that we are always aware of how others might perceive our actions." Logan glanced around at the other students. They all stood there silently. No one here was on her side. Except maybe Scott. Rogue saw his discomfort. Logan turned back to her. "Hit the track, skunk, and don't stop until that bell rings for your next class."

Rogue wanted to protest, tell him that he was being unfair. After all, he did not make a very good first impression himself. Especially as he hadn't even shown up for her first day. Mostly, Rogue wanted to argue against the nickname. She hadn't died a strip of her hair white to be cool and 'skunk' wasn't exactly okay with her. And if the other kids took the name up…She shook off the dread the thought provoked.

But Rogue held her tongue, a feat not as hard as it would have been for someone else. Rogue knew how to avoid attention, although she admittedly did not do a good job by showing up late. She trotted off to the track, dreading the next hour.

By the end of the period, Rogue was half-dead. She was by no definition a good runner. Add to that the heat, the extra clothes, and the amount of time she was expected to run for, and she was _spent. _She'd been too afraid he'd find her and yell if she stopped, so she hadn't. At first it wasn't so bad, she watched the other kids as they practiced, did normal gym-like things. She also watched as they did not-so-normal gym-type things with their powers.

The track was huge though, wrapping around both the training field and a vast forest, so that half her time running she could only watch the trees. In that whole amount of time she'd only managed to go around three times.

She knew she would be late to her next class, oh the irony. She couldn't make herself get up. She was bent over in half, kneeling on the ground, ready to vomit. Her body wasn't taking this abuse lightly. She was still panting when she saw large boots stop in front of her. "Up, skunk." Rogue stayed put.

After a while Logan kneeled down so he could look her in the eyes. His eyes were unreadable for a second, and she wondered how she must look. Layers of clothes, drenched in sweat. Hair messy and stuck to her slick face. She looked into his eyes with an accusatory look. In an instant, his eyes grew steely. "Look, I don't care if you think I'm the villain, I don't care if you think this was unfair. Consider this a warning. If you so much as look at one of them funny, even for a second, this day will be a walk in the park with an ice cream cone prepared to what I will do to you."

Rogue's mouth dropped open. This was because he didn't trust her? He didn't even know her! Her eyes felt like fire as warm liquid pooled there. "Even Scott?" She asked defiantly, letting him know she knew his secret. His blue eyes burned and she heard the slink of his claws. "It doesn't feel so good, does it?" She said weakly, letting the tears fall.

He turned away from her and stormed off, not another word said. Rogue fell to her butt from her knees and sighed. She knew she couldn't go to class like this. She was mess, physically and emotionally. She got up wearily, stiff from the running. She'd head up to her room for a shower. She was sure she could talk to Professor X and let him know why she hadn't gone to class. He would understand. The man was a saint.

On her way back to her rooms, she ran into Jean. Rather, Jean ran into her. "Sorry, Rogue!" She gave a nervous laugh as she backed away. Then she got in a good look. "Oh! What happened to you!?"

"Logan," was all she said, and it seemed that was all she needed to.

Jean patted her shoulder sympathetically. "He's a tough old ass, and it takes him a while to get used to strangers. He's just-I'm sure-" She seemed at a loss for words.

_Relax, Jean,_ Rogue thought, _I get it, he thinks I'm dangerous and he doesn't trust me. No need for the hand puppets._

Jean opened her mouth, startled. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to offend you." She said quickly, seemingly worried. But then she smiled a surprised smile. "I didn't know you knew how to project."

"Project?" Rogue asked.

"Yes, send telepathic messages." Jean answered.

"You were reading my mind?" Rogue asked, a little unsettled.

"No! I just picked up what you sent me! I can't read certain mutants. Remy, Logan, you, the professor. I swear!" She said earnestly. "And even if I could, I wouldn't! It would be an invasion of privacy."

Rogue smiled. She could see why Jean had all the boys in a tizzy. Her hair was brilliant and shinning, framing an innocent face that somehow managed to be intoxicating. Maybe it was her emerald-eyes, or her perfect red lips, or the light freckles, or all of the above. Whatever it was, Rogue was finding she was just as susceptible to Jean Grey's charms. _Don't worry about it. Always nice to learn about a skill I never knew I had._

"Thank you, Rogue! I'm sorry again for bumping into you!" And with that, she hurried off, leaving Rogue facing the daunting steps to her room.

The shower felt unbelievably good. Of course, she pretty much collapsed once she got in there. Sitting on the floor, she went through the basic shower routine. Shampoo, soap, razor, loofa. It didn't feel like she was only washing off the sweat and dirt. She was washing off all of the negative emotions. She smiled as she saw the water swirl down the drain. She was washing off _Logan._

Let him see if he could bother her again! She couldn't afford to let anyone screw this up for her. She had enough to deal with just keeping herself away from trouble, let alone fending trouble off from some creep who gets his kicks threatening high school girls.

Rogue walked into her room wrapped in a towel. She looked at her schedule. She'd missed two classes while she tried to recover from her earlier trauma. She should probably try to make the last one. Even if her legs felt like they were bashing each other in an epic battle of good versus evil every time she walked.

After all, all she had left in the day was art. Rogue felt fairly certain she could handle it. All she would have to do is wave around a paint brush or two. Student interaction would be limited and she could keep to herself.

She was busy trying to keep her head down as she attempted to sneak into the room unnoticed. She was so busy not making eye contact that she didn't realize the teacher had spotted her until she was right there. Rogue stopped dead in her tracks. Her mouth slowly slipped open as she saw her teacher. "Uhm," she managed. _Great, _she thought, _truly eloquent._

"Hi, you must be Rogue." She smiled sweetly and held out her hand for Rogue to shake. Her eyes widen when she realized her mistake and she quickly withdrew. The gloves must not have seemed like an appropriate precaution. It was enough to shake Rogue out of her reverie. Sure, she was good-looking, in a gorgeous, model-esque way. But when it came down to it, she was just as bad as the others. "I'm Ms. Lee," she said, less enthusiastically, but still kindly.

Rogue nodded her hello. The woman looked barely old enough to be a teacher, but she did have an air of authority and a certain poise. It wasn't enough this Chinese beauty looked so amazing, but she had to radiate an aura of happiness and perfection.

"You can have a seat anywhere," she said, using her arm to sweep across the room. It was a small room filled with five tables big enough for six students at the most. She missed the way the other teens stared at her, unfriendly and uninviting, but Rogue sure didn't. She saw an empty table in the corner and knew this was her destined spot. "Every class, we start off with an artistic critique in our sketchbooks, only five minutes or so, and then we continue from there."

She turned to go, but Rogue stopped her. "I don't have a sketchbook."

"Oh." Ms. Lee looked around. She plucked a sketch book from her desk. "I have so many sketch books that I never use!" She said in a how-silly-of-me voice. "You are certainly welcome to this one."

Rogue smiled and headed off to exile in her corner. She sat down heavily. She put her head in her hand and flipped open the book. She was shocked to see Logan staring back at her. It was a sketch of him smiling softly. His eyes seemed kind. Her breath caught in her throat. This wasn't the Logan who'd tortured her with running earlier.

Rogue eagerly turned the page. This time he was sprawled out on the couch with a beer. Rogue could see why Ms. Lee had been unable to resist drawing him in this moment. He looked so peaceful. Her art was amazing. It was flawless. She'd drawn him perfectly.

She heard Ms. Lee behind her and she quickly flipped to a clean page. She sat there shock-still, hoping Ms. Lee hadn't noticed anything. It was wrong of Rogue not to tell her that she'd made a mistake, surely given Rogue the wrong notebook, but Rogue didn't want to part with these sketches. Not yet. Maybe not ever.

Ms. Lee sat next to her. There was plenty of room at the table. "So, Rogue, what do you think?" She asked, referring to the piece of art that was currently hanging in the front of the room. It was just some splatter work. Rogue shrugged. "Not even one sentence?" Ms. Lee prompted.

"Well, I guess beauty is in the eye of the beholder, so I don't really know how I have the right to criticize anything." Rogue replied.

"I don't want some political, non-offensive review of this. I want you to write how _you _feel about it. If you think it's junk, say so. If it reminds you of the time Aunt Judy ran over your dog, say that, too. Beauty _is_ in the eye of the beholder. So there are no wrong opinions." She got up. "Write something," she said sternly before she headed off to go pester some other students.

Rogue sighed and wrote something. It wasn't much, but she made up some stuff to say. Her brain wasn't lacking for material to use. She just always felt like a fake whenever she gave her opinion on anything. She could never be sure that she didn't just take the feelings and thoughts from some other personality and use it as her own.

Just as she finished scrawling out her unsure opinion, she looked up to see Logan walk in. He headed straight for Ms. Lee. "Jubes!" He exclaimed happily. Rogue could hear him from across the room. He advanced upon her and drew her into a tight embrace. "You're back," Logan said, smiling.

"And here to stay," 'Jubes' assured him. Rogue rolled her eyes and slipped out to go to the bathroom. She so did not want to stay and watch this.

When she came back, she paused right at the door. She'd heard her name. Ms. Lee and Logan were talking quietly at her desk, but her desk happened to be right by the door.

"What do you think of her?" Logan asked in his gruff voice.

"For starters, I don't think she has a very fine appreciation of art," she answered. "But then again, neither do you, if I recall." Amusement dripped from the art teacher's words.

Rogue stopped her eavesdropping and chose that moment to walk in, not wanting to hear any more. They both looked up sharply. Lee, somewhat guiltily, but all Logan did was glare. Rogue strode past them and headed to her seat.

Somehow, Logan the gym teacher had managed to ruin art for her, too. She was following Ms. Lee's written instructions on the board and practicing this brush stroke or whatever when she looked up and saw Logan staring. He'd been talking quietly to her teacher all class. Rogue couldn't hear a thing, being as far from her desk as possible in the small room of chatty art students. Rogue met his eyes and he didn't back down, unashamed to be caught in a stare. She tilted her head at him with a frown.

It hit her, then. He'd come here to watch her, keep an eye on her. This was his way of following through on a threat. Rogue swallowed. She was hurt, insulted, but most of all, afraid. He wasn't someone she could just forget about, and he could ruin everything for her here.


End file.
